In 1916 the Italian Futurist artist Arnaldo Ginna filmed, edited and generally oversaw the creation of Vita Futurista (Futurist Life), the only officially “Futurist” film ever made. Created by a committee of futurists, including sculptor, painter and writer Giacomo Balla, playwright and poet Remo Chiti, writer Bruno Corra (also the brother of Ginna, and the co-creator of Ginna’s hand painted completely abstract films of 1909), founder of Futurism, poet, and declaimer F.T. Marinetti, poet and Author Emilio Settimelli, painter and Ginna’s film assistant Lucia Venna and Paolo Ungari, Vita Futurista directly took up several of the ideas proposed by “The Futurist Cinema” manefesto, which delacred that film was the “expressive medium most adapted to the complete sensibility of the Futurist artist.”

On the occasion of Performa 09’s celebration of Futurism, Performa, SFMOMA and Portland Green Cultural Projects had invited an incredible group of contemporary film and video artists to create their own versions of the original segments in Vita Futurista, re-imagining this film in relation to our future.

Shannon Plumb’s Matinee was inspired by “Rhymed Poetry of Remo Chiti”.

Shannon Plumb’s cinematic studies of life’s various roles and characers explore the complexities embedded in the ordinary and extraordinary. Inspired by the curious spirit of slapstick comedy and the physical humour of silent film legends such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Plumb’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows at the museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence and PS1 Contemporary Art Centre, Long Island City, among other venues.

Commissioned by Performa , SFMOMA and Portland Green Cultural Projects

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